Julian Marley

Julian Marley, son of reggae legend Bob Marley and Barbados-born Lucy Pounder is a Grammy award nominated, roots-reggae musician, singer-songwriter, producer and humanitarian.In the same tradition as his father, Julian “Ju Ju” Marley is a devout Rastafarian whose music is inspired by life and spirituality.

Born in London, England on June 4, 1975, Julian is the only son of Bob Marley born and raised in the U.K. Having been raised in England by his mother, Julian frequently visited his family and brothers Ziggy, Stephen, Damian and Kymani in Jamaica. Growing up as a youth in a musical atmosphere Julian quickly adopted a musical lifestyle and at an early age and became a skillful, self-taught musician mastering the bass, drums, guitar and keyboards. By the tender age of five, Marley recorded his first demo at the Marley family home in Kingston, Jamaica. Julian reflects, “From a small age music has been in my life, it was just a natural thing.” In 2009, Julian Marley’s career rose to new heights with the success of his Grammy Award Nominated release entitled, Awake released on Ghetto Youths / Universal Music Group on April 28, 2009. The thought-provoking album was co-produced with his brothers Stephen Marley and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley and recorded at the Lion’s Den in Miami and the Tuff Gong studio’s in Kingston, Jamaica. This album was inspired by Julian’s life and spirituality and skillfully weaves diverse musical styles into a set of hypnotic beats and soulful vocals. The music and message presented throughout Awake was inspired by all the family who have come before. Julian explains, “There is spiritual energy from the ancestors in this album.”

As with the other Marley’s, Awake blends R&B, hip hop, dancehall and of course the roots reggae that his father made famous around the world. The album’s first single, ‘Boom Draw’, is a blend of classic roots and modern dancehall. Julian’s brothers also appear on the album, with Stephen Marley collaborating on ‘A Little Too Late’ and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley contributing his talents to ‘Violence in the Streets’. Another track, ‘Oh Girl’, features vocals by rapper Mr. Cheeks and Marcia Griffiths, a former Wailers backing vocalist and reggae star in her own right, also contributes background vocals to the album.

Julian’s ‘Awake’ world tour with his band The Uprising flourished in 2009, and stemmed into a major North American, Caribbean and European run that included the Raggamuffin 2010 tour of Australia and New Zealand. In May 2010, Awake took home the award for ‘Best Album of the Year’ at the International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) in New York City. Marley’s tour with The Uprising continually expanded in 2010, and performance dates found the reggae singer-songwriter circling Europe, and scheduling back to back headlining performances in the U.K., Greece and South America.

Julian Marley ranks higher in the consciousness movement of music than most reggae artists recognized today. And while Julian has built a formidable reputation by transcending musical genres, we can be sure that whatever ventures he will embark on in 2011, Julian “Ju Ju” Marley will remain a spiritual, moral, musical visionary with an international mission. Julian enthused, “I don’t plan the next step, I just continue on with Jah Works and somehow things seem to just come together naturally that way.”